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I seriously gave thought to doing this exact thing. The problems I was uncomfortable with: 1. when you are working with multiple cars+models it is much harder

I seriously gave thought to doing this exact thing. The problems I was uncomfortable with: 1. when you are working with multiple cars+models it is much harder to scale, every car is its own challenge, as such the operation is likely to remain small 2. customers might expect the rest of the car to also improve which would be problematic when you have to source parts or fix 10 to 15 year old car models 3. every new model you work with is a bit of an experiment, you don't really know whether your configuration is going to cause problems until it does; what worked with another model might not work with this one, in the worst case scenario, people get hurt and you're to blame; if you read any of the 100s of EV conversion blogs, they never get it right the first time round, there's always something that needs rethinking As a side note, you don't have to buy anything from Tesla to do this. You can furnish yourself a whole package relatively easily from various suppliers. People were doing it before Tesla was even a thing.

bradknowles 7y ago
I hav some friends here in the Austin area that have a company doing this. And yes, it’s all custom one-off work for each car. My most vivid memory is climbing into the “frunk” of a Porsche that was owned by a famous cardiologist, and measuring the heater core slot so that we could make our own heater core enclosure to fit for an electric unit we bought. And I took very careful and accurate measurements and very carefully applied them to sheet metal on the hand brake press. Only to discover that I had not accounted for the thickness of the metal or the enforced bend radius, and so the finished unit was off by about a millimeter and wouldn’t fit. I tried to convince them that they should partner with certain kit car companies, buying only the non-BEV components from them, much the way Tesla started out with Lotus. But that never went anywhere, and I haven’t heard from them since. I need to get back in touch with them....
- bradknowles 7y ago
  BTW, the biggest issue they found in doing conversions is doing the electrical wiring work according to code. When there is a crash and the emergency rescue team has to use the “jaws of life” to cut the car open, you want to make damn sure they won’t be cutting through any of your high-amperage cabling. And if you are converting an ICE car to BEV, you don’t want to surprise them by routing your power cables through unexpected places. When they see a certain model of car, they are going to expect to be able to cut through in certain manufacturer-approved locations. You don’t want to risk killing the guys who are trying to save your life.
agumonkey 7y ago
Some guys on France have picked a set of cars using the same frame to design a single kit.
- Phenomenit 7y ago
  It's easier because all of the French car brands are basically the same with the same frame with a different badge and bodywork.
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    Other manufacturers don't do shared designs ?
    - Phenomenit 7y ago
      Definitely, I didn't have a snarky intention with my comment.
      - agumonkey 7y ago
        I'm just honestly surprised
  - hawski 7y ago
    I thought that Renault has it different than Peugeot/Citroen. The former has common parts with Nissan and the latter with Opel (also part of PSA) and Fiat. Am I wrong?
    - aeyes 7y ago
      Opel still shares no platforms with the french cars, it is all GM. The first car based on the PSA platform is planned to come out next year.
      - joking 7y ago
        The grandland shares platform, it's actually built in the same factory than the 3008. It comes from an accord previous to the acquisition of Opel from psa
kozak 7y ago
There is the example of LPG conversions, where you can take pretty much any naturally aspirated gasoline engine and convert it to LPG for a modest price.
- fyfy18 7y ago
  LPG conversion requires a lot less changes though. The gearbox and braking remain exactly the same. You need to make very few changes to the motor. Then you just add a little more equipment (fuel tank, computer and control system) on top.
  - lallysingh 7y ago
    The brakes would be the same, and you're just removing-not replacing-the gearbox.
    - LeonM 7y ago
      For front-wheel-drive cars (which about 95% of small cars are), the differential is embedded in the gearbox. So you can't remove the gearbox, or you'll have to place a new stand-alone differential, which will add significant costs.
      - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
        Just make a shaft to replace the shifty gear reducing bits of the transmission and then bolt your electric motor to the now gear-less transmission. It should be pretty easy to standardize a coupling and mounting bolt pattern for the motor and then just bolt on whatever transmissions shaft and bell-housing adapter you'd need for the particular model. I'm glossing over the details but you'd need about half a dozen precision machined features and like three or four parts that are specific to a particular ICE engine/transmission application. Dimensions are such that you could probably buy cheap axles for a common application and then have them machined down to make your part. Parts cost should wind up under $200ea unless you need something expensive to machine (like blind female splines).
    - 7y ago

bradknowles 7y ago

I hav some friends here in the Austin area that have a company doing this. And yes, it’s all custom one-off work for each car. My most vivid memory is climbing into the “frunk” of a Porsche that was owned by a famous cardiologist, and measuring the heater core slot so that we could make our own heater core enclosure to fit for an electric unit we bought. And I took very careful and accurate measurements and very carefully applied them to sheet metal on the hand brake press. Only to discover that I had not accounted for the thickness of the metal or the enforced bend radius, and so the finished unit was off by about a millimeter and wouldn’t fit. I tried to convince them that they should partner with certain kit car companies, buying only the non-BEV components from them, much the way Tesla started out with Lotus. But that never went anywhere, and I haven’t heard from them since. I need to get back in touch with them....

bradknowles 7y ago
BTW, the biggest issue they found in doing conversions is doing the electrical wiring work according to code. When there is a crash and the emergency rescue team has to use the “jaws of life” to cut the car open, you want to make damn sure they won’t be cutting through any of your high-amperage cabling. And if you are converting an ICE car to BEV, you don’t want to surprise them by routing your power cables through unexpected places. When they see a certain model of car, they are going to expect to be able to cut through in certain manufacturer-approved locations. You don’t want to risk killing the guys who are trying to save your life.

agumonkey 7y ago

Some guys on France have picked a set of cars using the same frame to design a single kit.

Phenomenit 7y ago
It's easier because all of the French car brands are basically the same with the same frame with a different badge and bodywork.
- agumonkey 7y ago
  Other manufacturers don't do shared designs ?
  - Phenomenit 7y ago
    Definitely, I didn't have a snarky intention with my comment.
    - agumonkey 7y ago
      I'm just honestly surprised
- hawski 7y ago
  I thought that Renault has it different than Peugeot/Citroen. The former has common parts with Nissan and the latter with Opel (also part of PSA) and Fiat. Am I wrong?
  - aeyes 7y ago
    Opel still shares no platforms with the french cars, it is all GM. The first car based on the PSA platform is planned to come out next year.
    - joking 7y ago
      The grandland shares platform, it's actually built in the same factory than the 3008. It comes from an accord previous to the acquisition of Opel from psa

kozak 7y ago

There is the example of LPG conversions, where you can take pretty much any naturally aspirated gasoline engine and convert it to LPG for a modest price.

fyfy18 7y ago
LPG conversion requires a lot less changes though. The gearbox and braking remain exactly the same. You need to make very few changes to the motor. Then you just add a little more equipment (fuel tank, computer and control system) on top.
- lallysingh 7y ago
  The brakes would be the same, and you're just removing-not replacing-the gearbox.
  - LeonM 7y ago
    For front-wheel-drive cars (which about 95% of small cars are), the differential is embedded in the gearbox. So you can't remove the gearbox, or you'll have to place a new stand-alone differential, which will add significant costs.
    - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
      Just make a shaft to replace the shifty gear reducing bits of the transmission and then bolt your electric motor to the now gear-less transmission. It should be pretty easy to standardize a coupling and mounting bolt pattern for the motor and then just bolt on whatever transmissions shaft and bell-housing adapter you'd need for the particular model. I'm glossing over the details but you'd need about half a dozen precision machined features and like three or four parts that are specific to a particular ICE engine/transmission application. Dimensions are such that you could probably buy cheap axles for a common application and then have them machined down to make your part. Parts cost should wind up under $200ea unless you need something expensive to machine (like blind female splines).
  - 7y ago